Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I don't know how this book got published. A fictitious account of actual events, a dark and disturbing subject with a plethora of 4 & 5 star reviews. What could go wrong? Well, in the case of this book, everything. The entire book is spelled out in the description. Eight Mennonite women discover that themselves, along with 100+ other women and children in their community, have been drugged and raped by the community men over the course of two years. These eight women gather secretly to discuss what they are going to do now that the truth has come to light. They have three choices: stay and do nothing, stay and fight or leave. What follows is that secret conversation as told by the meeting minutes taken by August Epp. Although he is a man, August is the only person they can trust that can read and write. The entire book is made up of one conversation, or I should say the minutes of one conversation. This leaves the style of the story less than savory. Long ramblings of what is, in my experience, not consistent with the usual format when taking minutes. August also includes his personal thoughts which is counterintuitive as well as distracting. The women have unusual names and all seem to be related in some way or another leaving it nearly impossible to decipher who is who for most of the story. The same three choices are pondered over and over with little progress towards a decision until the very end. I felt like I read the same conversation 100 times. Religion is prevalent in everything these women discuss as they try to figure out how to save themselves without falling out of God's grace. I would dare say that 3/4 of this story revolves around religion and that alone is enough to turn me off from this book. While the real life account of what happened to these women is compelling, the author ruined any chance for the reader to connect and become invested in their plight with an unbearable format and lackluster character development. Now for the positive: it is a very short book. If I had to choose an audience for this book it would be a Christian women's church book club. I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.